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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be cranky about the £150 council tax rebate

238 replies

Notcontent · 07/02/2022 23:44

I have been thinking a lot about this. I understand that the government was looking for a way to implement help with energy costs in the easiest way possible and that doing it through council tax bands seemed sensible as for the most part it does target the right people. But only for the most part. For example, in London there are lots of people who live in high value properties that are actually far from luxurious and who will miss out. For example, my elderly neighbour will miss out even though he deserves the help. He doesn’t have a lot of money - bought his house decades ago when the area was very cheap and lives very frugally. I know councils will get some extra money to distribute but that will be for only a small number of people.

These kinds of injustices really get to me, as I think when it comes to public money everyone should get equal treatment.

OP posts:
UndertheCedartree · 08/02/2022 08:52

I am exempt from council tax due to illness. I am on a very low income as I'm a single parent and can't work. It's a shame I will miss out on this support as I can't currently afford to put the heating on. So glad Spring is on it's way!

ilovebrie8 · 08/02/2022 08:57

I think they should give it to everyone it’s unfair ...bandings are not a great benchmark! It’s poor as £150 is woefully small ...it’s the furlough/bounce back loans that is all wrong...lot of dodgy people/scammers were literally given tens of thousands and treasury has written it off ...the figures are mind boggling ...wrong on every level ...and people arguing here over £150. There is a bigger picture it’s shocking ...

Appleseesaw · 08/02/2022 08:59

@UndertheCedartree

I am exempt from council tax due to illness. I am on a very low income as I'm a single parent and can't work. It's a shame I will miss out on this support as I can't currently afford to put the heating on. So glad Spring is on it's way!
Contact your council about the household support fund. I hope things look up for you soon.
BarbaraofSeville · 08/02/2022 09:04

It's one of those where it costs too much to target effectively, but wouldn't another UC uplift been better as it would have then gone to those who've already gone though means testing to demonstrate that they have less money than average?

Plus maybe increase the winter fuel allowance so pensioners get it too? Doing it that way would mean that it goes more to low income people?

I'm not sure exactly who's getting what as I've seen various reports of £150 and/or £200, some being repayable, and others not, but if it's £150 of free money to lower council tax bands then we'll get it and we certainly don't need it (band A house, childfree couple with an income of around £60k but we're too lazy to move somewhere nicer and it's OK here really).

But I saw this campaign on here to donate the £150 if you don't need it and we'll be doing this.

Enzbear · 08/02/2022 09:05

Feel sorry for an old person who owns an expensive house outright?
Behave!
Why does he need the help? Others, especially a lot of younger people are much worse off.
How do you know he doesn't have much money.
Most of my elderly relatives live/lived like paupers while having a fortune sitting in the bank. My uncle died and left over half a million this year, he always had holes in his socks!
My DM frets about having a taxi to hospital, yet has loads in the bank. They can't accept that they are well off somehow.

Jvg33 · 08/02/2022 09:07

If someone can't afford to live in an expensive home, they need to sell up and move somewhat cheaper. I live in a cheaper area than most in England. I'm not about to feel sorry for someone who bought their now high valued realastae decades ago for a much lower price. Stop feeling sorry for the babyboomers and their parents. We are the generation who are missing out. Someone posted a thread earlier in the week about grandparents not providing childcare and were slated for it. Erm, I remember my parents gaining lots of free childcare and they hardly give anything back to their own children. Why don't you give this elderly person the 150 pounds op and stop assuming the rest of the actual tax payers to fund for it.

Jvg33 · 08/02/2022 09:12

Don't ask other people to do something that you don't want to do yourself. Do you want to give this person 150 pounds of money from your own pocket op? If not, stop asking others to do it.

Lampshading · 08/02/2022 09:16

Comparing London to elsewhere is a bit of an anomalie as its so densely populated that for the same size catchment more people are paying (if that makes sense)- but comparing London to other bits of London highlight the ridiculousness. That said it varies by area anyway, we pay tonnes in this county and like everywhere else services are dwindling. Its a very loose yardstick, more effective than everyone paying the same though as some would gain and some would miss out, being linked to something changeable such as income wouldn't work as wouldn't be able to project with any sort of accuracy.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 08/02/2022 09:17

Was quite annoyed when I check and found I’m Band E!

I’m a single Mum - happen to live in London. Got a massive mortgage taking up huge amounts of my income but I’m stuck here due to ex and due to my children being settled in schools. The reality is, a smaller house wouldn’t fit us in but I could have really done with that money!

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 08/02/2022 09:20

..it’s the furlough/bounce back loans that is all wrong...lot of dodgy people/scammers were literally given tens of thousands and treasury has written it off

This is very true. It’s all very galling when you worked throughout the pandemic whilst trying to home school a child with undiagnosed ADHD (everything stopped due to pandemic!), now a pay freeze for public sector and tax rises. Been utterly shafted!

OnaBegonia · 08/02/2022 09:21

Why live frugally when you have a house with a great amount of equity? Sell up, downsize and live in comfort.
Plenty people need your sympathy OP but not this man.
Also, as previously stated many older people live 'frugally' when in fact they're financially very comfortable.
My DPs GF looks and lives like a pauper, mithers over 10p but has £10,000s in bank, he's 94, live well I say.

BoredZelda · 08/02/2022 09:26

There are lots of people like him in my area. He would not apply to the council as he is just not that sort of person - proud of being self sufficient.

We can’t design a system of benefits around people “too proud” to seek out the help they need.

LittleBearPad · 08/02/2022 09:28

Are you actually sure he’s band E OP. It will have little to with his current house value.

He does have choices though. He could sell what is almost certainly a house that is too large for him.

LittleBearPad · 08/02/2022 09:29

@OnaBegonia

Why live frugally when you have a house with a great amount of equity? Sell up, downsize and live in comfort. Plenty people need your sympathy OP but not this man. Also, as previously stated many older people live 'frugally' when in fact they're financially very comfortable. My DPs GF looks and lives like a pauper, mithers over 10p but has £10,000s in bank, he's 94, live well I say.
Very true - see the tuna thread
BarbaraofSeville · 08/02/2022 09:30

I suppose if you buy hundreds of cans of half price tuna you can use them to line the walls and provide insulation.

DePfeffoff · 08/02/2022 09:35

The issue is, of course, that the government could raise this money by making an effort to recover the billions lost through fraud on furlough. And by reversing the recent tax cut for the wealthy. But they're not going to do either of those. That's why it's time they went.

KarenTheGammonRemoaner · 08/02/2022 09:37

Couldn't care less. As injustices go this is absolutely not on my radar.

Plexie · 08/02/2022 09:37

Does the OP actually know what Council Tax band the neighbour is in? Or have they assumed it's a high one, based on current house prices?

AngelsWithSilverWings · 08/02/2022 09:39

I think the government may come to regret suddenly giving people the urge to check which council tax bans they are in.

The bandings seem so random I'm sure people will start appealing them .

I live on a long street that cuts through the middle of our 1930's estate and the bandings range from E to G with no obvious reason why one would be in a higher or lower band the others. One of the houses opposite me is a G and one of my neighbours is an E. We are band F. they are basically all the same houses. All larger than average semis worth around £800k.

Obviously none of my neighbours need or are going to get a rebate but assuming these anomalies
are occurring everywhere it seems mad to me to use this system to decide who needs a rebate to cover rising living costs.

CayrolBaaaskin · 08/02/2022 09:39

@Tealightsandd - don’t be ridiculous. People who own homes in London are not poor by any stretch of the imagination. As pp have said, he can sell his home or do equity release if he is actually struggling (we don’t know he is).

Kensington &Chelsea is indeed the borough of Grenfell. So what? What happened was a tragedy but has nothing to do with council tax or the ops post. Or even poverty- many of the flats in Grenfell were privately owned or rented.

RobinPenguins · 08/02/2022 09:43

Around 70% of properties in London are bands A-D compared to around 80% outside London. So not that much difference. Council tax rates are generally far lower in London boroughs than for northern cities and counties so people like your elderly neighbour are already paying a lot less than anyone receiving the rebate will be saving.

phishy · 08/02/2022 09:52

Well I’m in a band E for a tiny little terrace whilst the massive 1930s semis down the road are band D, so forgive me if I have little sympathy.

SpaghettiArmsMurderer · 08/02/2022 09:56

The whole council tax system is absurd. However it’s probably easier to administrate than means testing via general taxation. Also until this policy was announced I didn’t even know it went past D!

sopsmum · 08/02/2022 10:00

I don't really understand the basis of council tax and what it has got to do with the value of your property in 1991. Surely council services should be provided on a per person basis. I've got the same size bin as my neighbours, same number of children in school etc etc

A lot more transparency around taxes is needed I think. If you live under a wasteful council you can be paying many more ££££ a year.

AngelsWithSilverWings · 08/02/2022 10:02

I've just remembered that my DM worked for the local council office at the time the bandings were all decided. She used to get calls from rather snooty people disgruntled that their house was only given band F when their neighbour was a band G. As if the banding was a status symbol! She thought the snobbery was hilarious.